Burma Fund WebIndex     Workshop on Humanitarian Aid to Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi's Foreword to The Humanitarian Crisis, Aid and Governance in Burma

Working paper for the Workshop on Humanitarian Aid to Burma

The issue of humanitarian aid for a country where an authoritarian government has a stranglehold on every aspect of the lives of its citizens has to be handled with the greatest care. Without a correct understanding of conditions within the country, there is the danger that humanitarian aid from United Nations agencies and programmes and international NGOs might be provided in a way that exacerbates the very causes for the need for humanitarian aid. In Burma, the underlying cause of the social, political and economic crises which have created untold hardships for the people is the lack of good governance. There cannot be good governance without responsibility, accountability and transparency. The provision of humanitarian aid should be made in such a way as to promote these qualities. If the provision of aid simply enables an authoritarian government to assume less responsibility for the welfare of the people, or to strengthen its despotic grip, or to increase the opacity of its administration, it will do irreparably more harm than good.

The following paper reflects the views of the National League for Democracy with regard to the present humanitarian crisis in Burma. We have always requested that UN agencies and international NGOs should consult with the NLD and that their work in Burma should be closely monitored to ensure that humanitarian aid provides help to the right people in the right way. By helping the right people in the right way, we mean that the provision of aid should not be restricted to those who have been "approved" by the authorities and that it is made in a way consonant with the aim to build strong democratic institutions in Burma.

We place emphasis on the need for UN agencies and international NGOs to maintain close contacts with the NLD not only because it is the party that represents the people, but because it is in a position to provide information relevant to the successful implementation of aid programmes. The failure to acquire such information could well have unfortunate results. I would like to give as an example the recent agreement between the ICRC and the military authorities to allow the ICRC to inspect two prisons in Burma. We have no reason whatsoever to doubt the good intentions of the ICRC but because of this agreement, hundreds of political prisoners were removed from Insein Jail and dispersed in prisons throughout Burma before the inspection was made. While we still awaits the results of the ICRC inspection, the immediate effect has been the greatly increased hardship of political prisoners and their families. If the ICRC had consulted us before the prison inspections took place, we could have informed them of the prison transfers and asked them to take necessary action to prevent their agreement with the military authorities from increasing the sufferings of political prisoners.

I would like to express my appreciation to those who prepared the attached paper. I hope that it will serve to make UN agencies and programmes, donor countries and international NGOs to be fully aware of all the issues involved in providing aid to Burma and help them to come to decisions that will give Burma the aid that it most needs, that which will enable us to establish good governance in the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi

The Humanitarian Crisis, Aid and Governance in Burma i